You\u2019ve met someone interesting at an event. You\u2019re excited about the possibility of working together, but with everything else that\u2019s going on at the event, you forget to follow up. A week later, you finally fish their business card out of your briefcase.<\/p>\n
Is it too late to follow up?<\/p>\n
Rather than letting great networking leads fall through the cracks, put a networking follow-up strategy in place to ensure you get the maximum value out of every new contact. Here\u2019s how to get started.<\/p>\n
You can dramatically improve the chances of making connections at a networking event if you do a little legwork beforehand.<\/p>\n
First, if possible, try to find out who will be at the event. If it’s a conference, check the official speaker, exhibitor, and attendee list if one is available. Contact the conference organizer and ask for one if it\u2019s not (the worse they can say is \u2018no\u2019).<\/p>\n
Once you have a list of people you want to connect with, use a tool like Voila Norbert<\/a> to find their contact info.<\/p>\n With the name and email address in hand, research them. What are their latest projects, recent awards, other industry recognition, recent publications, or personal achievements and milestones? You need to find enough to personalize each message you\u2019re going to send.<\/p>\n Finally, reach out to them. Send a simple, brief, and personalized<\/i> email message. It need not be any more complicated than this:<\/p>\n